Tether
by knowlee
Summary: First, it started with the personality changes, then it moved to her memories being replaced with those she believed to be Sothis'. Byleth didn't know why, but she knew that she didn't have much time left before she was gone and Sothis took her place. (AU where Rhea's 'Divine Revelation' had a delayed reaction) (based on a Claude/Byleth fanart on Tumblr)


knowlee- I had to type this up twice as when I originally typed it up and saved it in my drafts, it somehow got deleted! D:

Luckily I had it written down on paper to act as my rough draft so I was able to rework it from there. But, man was I mad that I'd lost that one from before! *is still fuming*

Oh, well, it's done now...

But yeah, once I saw that fanart I got hit with an urge to write something about it. Go check it out! It's lovely! It's here if you want to see it: white-starcloud .tumblr post/ 188814328983/ goddess

(^just remove the spaces)

Well, that's all for now.

~Bye!

* * *

**A Fire Emblem Fanfiction**

Tether

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

Byleth felt calm and strange at the same time. It was an interesting combination.

After she and Sothis had merged into one being many moons ago, she had hoped to one day see the girl again. But she never imagined that it would be like this.

At first, it started out as just small slippings in her personality. Yes, the two had shared in snarkiness, but there was a considerable difference between the two. Byleth used hers in more of a dry manner while Sothis' tended to be more direct and could be potentially harmful depending on who it was directed towards.

Byleth didn't know she was acting a little different in that way until someone pointed it out to her after one of the war council meetings had concluded. Once she realized what she had done, she immediately apologized and promised that it wouldn't happen again.

But it did.

And on top of that, her condition got progressively worse. People's names and certain memories of her past began to slip away. In their place, she began seeing glimpses of the distant past. The faces of the people she saw of them she didn't recognize, but she still felt a strange kinship with them anyway.

Her terror grew even more when that forgetfulness spread to more important names and memories.

Who were these people that talked to her so fondly?

Why did some of them call her professor?

And why did some of them (more particularly one with orange-colored hair) insist that a man named Jeralt was her father?

Who was Jeralt exactly anyway?

Byleth knew these memories were important to her but they still continued to disappear. It was unnerving. She tried to hide it from everyone, but as it progressed, it became more apparent that something was wrong. And one person, out of all the others, noticed it more so.

Claude.

Claude, strangely, was the one person she couldn't forget. While everyone else had slowly faded from her memory, those remained. And since her memories remained, the emotions connected to them and him as well stayed too.

She couldn't put her finger down on why he was able to remain on the forefront of her mind, but a small part of her knew that it was because he unknowingly acted as her tether, her connection to this world and to who she really was.

He kept her connected to her humanity.

She supposed it was because of this link (as well as his naturally observant nature) that he knew something was wrong. It was because of this she guessed was the reason why he followed her one night when she went up to the Goddess Tower to have some time to herself. While she was slightly annoyed that he had done so, at the same time, she was glad. A dark foreboding feeling had been lingering around her for some time making her think that there wasn't much time left before this fully overtook her.

His footsteps neared her, and there apparently was some hesitancy to them as she could tell that it was like his usual confident and determined gait. He stood next to her. "My friend, is everything alright?"

The concern in his voice was evident. "Leonie told me that you were acting strangely earlier this evening. She said that is appeared that you didn't know what she was talking about when she mentioned Jeralt's name."

Ah, Leonie…

Was that the girl's name? She couldn't remember.

"And it isn't just that either…" More concern echoed in his voice and was that...pain too? "You've changed. Which in itself isn't a bad thing, but it shouldn't be this fast. It's almost as if you're someone else completely sometimes."

He went silent for a few moments before speaking again. It's almost as if an epiphany had struck him and left him momentarily speechless. Byleth turned to look at him. His face was growing pale and his eyes were wide in fear. "Does this...does this have something to do with the Goddess merging with you years ago?"

Claude was certainly too clever for his own good. But at least their thoughts were on the same page. She hesitated with her answer. If she spoke it aloud, did that make it true? There wasn't a choice in the matter. He needed, no, deserved to know. "I…I think so."

Her attention turned to the land below. Breathing in slowly to try and calm herself down from encroaching panic attack, she recounted what had been occurring the past few months. "I've been forgetting things. Things I shouldn't be. I think they're being replaced by what I assume are her memories."

Nothing but silence came from him as he absorbed the information. "...And the personality changes?"

Another breath out. "I think that's hers coming out."

She returned at attention back to him and saw that he was gripping the stone banister before them. He wasn't taking this well. "Why? Why now? Why not then?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. A delayed reaction maybe?"

A sigh came from his lips. "Is there a way to stop it?"

The corners of her lips turned down. She could lie and keep his hopes up, but she couldn't lie to him. He'd see through it in a second anyway. Besides she couldn't do that to him. Especially if that foreboding feeling came true. "I don't know." She tried to swallow down the following words that keep them from coming out, but they spilled out anyway.

"I think I'm running out of time."

He turned his whole body in her direction. His face had gotten even paler. "You're kidding, right? Surely we still have time. There's got to be a way to stop it. Can't you reverse time? Change it back to when its early enough to give us time?"

A few tears rolled down her cheeks. "I've tried. It won't let me." Clenching her hands into fists, she tried to stop the tears but was unsuccessful. "When that happens, it usually means that it's meant to be. That fate says it must."

She had forgotten most of her past by now, but she knew those words had been spoken to her at some point. The feeling a gentle grip on her arms brought her attention back to the man before her. Determination was etched on his face. "That can't be right. There has to be a way! We can't give up!"

Her mouth formed into a wane smile. Claude certainly wasn't the kind of man to take things lying down. He would scheme and plan to find ways to make things work in his favor.

Unfortunately, she knew that this was something he couldn't scheme his way out of.

"I'm sorry, Claude." Her eyes closed to try and stop the oncoming tears. His arms went around her, one of his hands on her waist, the other cradling her head as he drew her close. Her hands moved to grab ahold of the black cloth wrapped around his shoulder and his jacket. She didn't want to forget him. Not like this.

They stood there for a few more moments before Byleth heard him speak. His words made her lose her fight against the tears. "I love you."

She pulled away to look at him. His hands came up to wipe away her tears. "I'm never gonna let you go." He winked. "You know that, don't you?"

A deep breath entered her lungs as she tried to keep from sobbing. "You're going to have to."

He smirked and shook his head before bringing his forehead to hers. "Not likely."

Even though her heart was breaking, she found herself smiling despite it. Her head went back down to his chest, his heartbeat soothing her frayed nerves and emotions.

She didn't ever want to forget him, but she knew she wouldn't have a choice. She prayed that she could stay here forever.

Forever wouldn't last long however.

A numbing sensation started at her toes and slowly went up her legs. Then it reached her waist. She gasped as her legs gave out underneath her, Claude tightening his hold on her as he lowered her down to the ground to prevent her from falling. "Byleth!"

"Claude…" The numbness caused her to barely breath out his name. It spread to her arms. Was this-? Was this Sothis taking over? Fear overtook her. She didn't want to leave! She wanted to stay! Though the numbness was slowly overtaking her body, she could slightly make out his voice desperately calling out her name.

Not much time was left, she knew. Her eyes closed as the tears began to dry up as the acceptance of her fate came over her. Byleth was no longer meant to exist.

In the midst of the numbness, she felt something warm press against her lips. Her eyes open up slightly to see Claude kissing her. Heart aching at the sight, her eyes closed and she returned the action with what little strength she had left. At least if she was going to cease existing, she could do it knowing that he knew she…

…

…

…

…"_Who are you?"_


End file.
